Bangkok – Thailand has given
its fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra his passport back, the government
said on Friday, despite strong opposition from the ex-tycoon's political
opponents.

Thaksin, whose sister Yingluck
is now prime minister, received the document from the Thai embassy in Abu
Dhabi in October, the foreign ministry said.

Thaksin was stripped of his
passport by the previous Thai government but received citizenship from
Montenegro last year, allowing him to travel internationally.

Thaksin, who remains a hugely
divisive figure, was deposed by the army in 2006 and lives in Dubai to
avoid a two-year prison term on a conviction for corruption that he contends
is politically motivated.

"This normal passport has
nothing to do with extradition or whether he's innocent, but only his nationality,"
foreign ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi told reporters. "No government
agency, including the police – judiciary and interior ministry – opposed
the re-issue of Thaksin's passport," he said.

Thaksin's sister Yingluck
won a resounding election victory in July of this year, in the wake of
mass opposition protests in 2010 by his "Red Shirt" supporters which ended
with a bloody army crackdown.

Foreign Minister Surapong
Tovichakchaikul told reporters two weeks ago that Thailand would give Thaksin
a passport "very soon". Thani said Surapong had not been aware then that
the document had already been issued.

The announcement stoked tensions
with Thaksin's enemies, already irked by recent reports – denied by the
government – of plans to seek a royal pardon for the ex-premier that could
allow him to return without serving time.

The opposition Democrat Party
said at the time it was not surprised by the decision to issue a new passport
for Thaksin, saying that Surapong's "only duty" as foreign minister was
to help the fugitive ex-premier. Yingluck has said the passport decision
rested with the foreign ministry and she was not involved.

The row came at a delicate
time for Yingluck as the 44-year-old leader, who was a political novice
before taking office in August, has been grappling with the fallout from
devastating floods.

In the early days of her
premiership, Thaksin appeared keen to boost his profile with controversial
trips to Japan and Cambodia, but he has largely remained silent during
the flood crisis, which is now largely over. Yingluck has not yet taken
any legal steps clearing the path for her brother's return, and a royal
pardon granted to thousands of convicts to mark the Thai king's birthday
earlier this month did not include the ex-premier.